Spicy Asian Spiral Cucumber Salad

This Spicy Asian Spiral Cucumber Salad is a simple crunchy cucumber salad made with mildly spicy Gochugaru chili powder, soy sauce, and garlic olive oil. Spiral cutting is so fun and easy, and it keeps crunchiness while holding up the yummy dressing. Serving this vegan Asian cucumber salad with rice and your meal does not get better than this!

Why You’ll Love This Recipe

I created this recipe when I met my favorite garlic olive oil from Brightland. I wanted to use the beautifully infused garlic olive oil to make an easy and fun salad that can be an everyday staple.

Garlic olive oil is perfect for adding garlicky-ness without actually peeling, chopping, or grating fresh garlic(and washing garlicky hands afterward). It’s not as strong and pungent as freshly grated garlic, making it suitable for adding any recipes that will be enjoyed raw or uncooked like salad.

I was inspired by Korean quick cucumber kimchi to create a recipe. By combining Gochugaru, Korean chili powder, with garlic olive oil, you can easily recreate the mouthwatering flavor of kimchi, but it tastes more like a nourishing salad thanks to the oil.

If you love Asian cucumber salad, also try Sesame Spiral Cucumber Salad. It’s another accordion-cut cucumber salad with nutty umami-packed sesame dressing.

Ingredients of Spicy Asian Spiral Cucumber Salad

• Persian Cucumbers: This recipe works for any type of cucumbers, but I love using Persian cucumbers or Japanese cucumbers in this recipe. Persian Cucumbers are mini-sized cucumbers. They’re more tender than regular English cucumbers and also have thin skin, making them perfect for crunchy yet tender cucumber salad that holds on to the sauce well.
• Gochugaru: So what is Gochugaru? Gochugaru is Korean chili flakes that gives kimchi its unique spicy flavor and vibrant red color. This recipe calls for ½ Tablespoon of Gochugaru. Not a spicy lover? Do not be afraid! Compared to cayenne or crushed red pepper flakes, Gochugaru has a much milder spiciness and even a fruity sweet aroma. So it adds tons of flavor without adding much of the heat.
• GF Tamari or Soy Sauce: Adds umami-rich saltiness. Use gluten-free tamari for making this recipe gluten-free tamari.
• Garlic Olive Oil: Use high-quality garlic olive oil.
• Rice Vinegar, Maple Syrup: Adding flavors.
• Sea Salt: Tenderize the cucumbers.

How to Make Spicy Asian Spiral Cucumber Salad

The first, and the most crucial step for this recipe is cutting cucumbers into spirals.

I have step-by-step instructions with images in this post. Here is a brief summary of how to cut cucumbers into spirals.

First, trim off both ends of the cucumbers. Place a cucumber between chopsticks. Thinly slice the cucumber crosswise without totally slicing it off, all the slices are attached on one side. Chopsticks prevent completely cutting off the slices from each other. Flip and thinly slice on the other side diagonally. Again, using chopsticks helps prevent fully cutting off any pieces.

You can make this salad with whole spiral cucumbers and serve them that way for an eye-pleasing accordion look. Alternatively, you can be more practical and cut the spiral cucumbers into bite-size lengths, about 1 inch each.

Once you cut all your cucumbers, let’s massase them to tenderize. In a large bowl, toss cucumbers and a pinch of salt. Use your hands to gently massage the cucumbers to distribute the salt into crevices of the cucumbers. It’s just a pinch, but the salt is so powerful. Set aside for 15 minutes.

After 15 minutes, cucumbers should be starting to sweat. Gently squeeze cucumbers to drop off excess water. Then transfer them into a clean bowl.

Toss squeezed cucumbers with the gochugaru, soy sauce, olive oil, rice vinegar, maple syrup, and a pinch of salt. Refrigerate for 15 minutes. Serve and enjoy!

I love serving cucumber salad over rice!

Frequently Asked Questions

---

For more recipes and updates, follow me on Instagram or TikTok!

If you enjoy the recipe, please leave a comment and ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️! I’d love to know what you think!